VERMONT DESIGN INSTITUTE
sustainable community development and problem-solving through holistic design and planning
Anak-Lachenpa School of Hope
The Anak-Lachenpa School of Hope is a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Gangtok, Sikkim, India. The Hope School, inspired by Anak Dorje Namgyal and founded by his daughter Tenzing Lachenpa, is for children in Sikkim living below the poverty line.
Tenzing Lachenpa, also known as Tenzing Anak, is from noble Tibetan lineage. She lived in Toronto, Canada and Burlington, Vermont for several years before returning to Sikkim with her family to found the Hope School during the summer of 2005.
As education is a privilege and not a basic right in many parts of India, social situations make it impossible for many to afford proper food, clothing and schooling. The focus of Anak-Lachenpa School of Hope is to ensure that adequate schooling is provided to each child housed by the School. The school is in Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim and one of the gateways to Tibet.
Vision
The vision of the Anak-Lachenpa School of Hope is to provide education and home-life for 20 poor or abandoned children. The children in need represent a cross-cultural mix (Sikkimese, Tibetan, Nepali, Indian) of rural children living in Gangtok, the capitol of Sikkim. The School vision also includes a Tibetan crafts micro-enterprise program as a means of training and supporting rural women, and of, establishing a long-term funding mechanism for the School.
Goals:
- Improve the welfare of the disadvantaged
- Provide a permanent home in a family-style environment to children who are without shelter or to children who have lost their parents
- Prepare and equip these children for an independent future
- Insure that each child receives an education and training according to his or her needs
School Program:
Phase I: Until the building facility is complete, the Hope School children are being sent to local public schools which are supervised by the government of Sikkim. This first phase includes the provision of education, housing and meals. The goal is to provide the children with a basic level of education, house them, and protect them from ever beginning to live a life-on-the-streets.
Currently there is a room for seven children to live in temporary quarters and to attend local public schools in Gangtok at a cost of $50/child/month. Funding for these children is essential to safeguard their health and education. Financial support is needed immediately and very welcomed. Each child needs an advocate and a funding source to keep their future viable.
Phase II: Phase II includes purchase of a plot of land and building a permanent boarding school facility. Currently there are opportunities for the purchase of school land in an easily accessible area of Gangtok.
Fundraising for Phase II has begun. Once the land is secured, design and construction of the school facility can proceed, followed by hiring of teachers and care-givers for the family-style living environment, purchase of desks and blackboards, and acceptance of children.
The school facility will include 15 rooms, an office, space for staff, rooms for the children’s caretakers, kitchen/dining space, and a small playground. Children of all ages will live together with their school mother in a beautiful and inspirational facility. They will be housed, fed, supervised, and educated.
Budget:
| Annual School Budget for 20 Children per Month | |||
| Room rent (6 rooms) | Rs 900 x 6 rooms | = Rs5400 | $125 |
| Food per child | Rs 600 x 20 | = Rs 1200 | $280 |
| School fees per child | Rs 500 x 20 | =Rs 10,000 | $232 |
| School transportation | Rs 2000 | (Rs 80/day) | $46 |
| School supplies | Rs 150 x 20 | =Rs 3000 | $69 |
| Expenses per child | Rs 50 x 20 | =Rs1000 | $23 |
| Caretakers' fees | Rs 2500 x 5 | =Rs 12,500 | $290 |
| Total Costs | |||
| per month | Rs 45,900 | $1,065 | |
| per year | Rs 550,800 | $12,780 | |
| Initial Funds Needed for the School Building | |||
| Land | $20,000 | ||
| Building design and construction | $25,000 | ||
Once the school is fully operational, the development of the micro-enterprise activities is expected to fund the annual building and school expenses.
Fundraising:
Education Program:
- Support one child for one year costs $650
Building Program:
- Build one room $1000 x 15 rooms = $15,000
- Build kitchen, dining space, hall, and playground =$10,000
Funding demands a significant fundraising effort on the part of the School supporters and Trustees. We are seeking funds from both international institutions and private donors.
Anak-Lachenpa School of Hope is an Indian registered NGO charity based in Sikkim. The School of Hope is state recognized and has a Board of Trustees who is responsible for directing the activities of the School.
How you can help us:
- Support a child at $50/month (US dollars)
- Send a donation towards one of the following projects:
o School building
o School rooms
o School land
o General fund
o Medical fund - Tell a friend about the Anak-Lachenpa School of Hope
Yes, I want to become a Sponsor
Many children in Sikkim and surrounding areas are abandoned, poor, and needy. Children like these can find a new home at the Anak-Lachenpa School of Hope, where they will find security in the care of a school mother and the companionship of their school brothers and sisters.
In becoming a Sponsor, you are making an invaluable contribution towards the work of the Anak-Lachenpa School of Hope, helping us to help children. Instead of being forced into menial work at a young age, they will go to school and have the love and compassion of their school family. Instead of despair, they will have hope and prospects for the future.
Please contact us to make a donation. The Anak-Lachenpa School of Hope can receive donations to either its bank account in the USA or Sikkim. The School is not presently set up for credit card transactions.
Contact
For further information about the School and its programs, or to offer financial support, please contact:
Tenzing Lachenpa, Director of the Anak-Lachenpa School of Hope
Burtuk, Swastick
Gangtok, Sikkim - 737101
India
tenzinganak@gmail.com
or
Diane Elliott Gayer, Architect and community planner
Vermont Design Institute
416 Pine Street #E2
Burlington, Vermont 05401 USA
vtdesign@sover.net
Ms. Tenzing Lachenpa of the Anak-Lachenpa School of Hope is working with Diane Elliott Gayer, Architect of the Vermont Design Institute to design and develop the school.
Geography
Sikkim is a small beautiful state of India in the Eastern Himalayas with steep mountains and deep valleys. It is barely 7096 square kilometers in size, yet has an elevation ranging from 300 to 8585 meters above sea level, and is one of the gateways to the Himalayas and Tibet. The major mountain peak of Sikkim is Khangchendzonga, the world's third highest mountain. Sikkim is surrounded by Nepal to the west, Tibet and China to the north, Bhutan to the east, and West Bengal, India to the south.
